Over the years, I've come to recognize that my inspiration and desire for wanting to become a science teacher does not stem from any one particular experience or teacher, but rather from a holistic overview of how my education impacted the person I would turn out to be (So far. 21 is hardly a worldly age). Though for concision's sake, I'll try to narrow the feeling down into a couple names and events.
My education was filled with masters of the craft- human beings who cared deeply and worked passionately on the minds of students. Though one teacher always comes to mind first when asked, "Who was your favorite teacher?". She was not a science teacher at all. She taught French and I had the great joy of having her for my Junior and Senior years of high school. Madame Carlotti had it all. A brilliant personality characterized by high energy, enthusiasm, personable and approachableness, early-established ground rules and codes of conduct, and perfectly executed lessons that captured a wide variety of learning styles. We often found ourselves working together as a team toward a particular goal, often cross-disciplinary literacy skills. Madame Carlotti would sometimes have us work in groups to translate a passage in French and then teach our classmates what the passage said, other times we would be applying our language skills to applicable life skills that used technology (planning trips, current events), and other times she would lecture using her animated personality, fantastic pneumonic devices, and other forms of educational psychology. Madame Carlotti also took the time to get to know her students while making room for us to get to know her as well. Madame was not just a teacher. She was a human being. She was not just a French-speaking machine. She, too, experienced the highs and lows, triumphs and tribulations of life. This mutual understanding of the diversity of one another created a learning environment that was open and very real. I did not compartmentalize when I learned into my mental French folder. I integrated it into who I was and applied it to my own passions like art, art history, sociology, and science. We are, after all, highly integrated beings.
Beyond really loving science and beyond really wanting to share the super-fantastic things I know about science with others, I love people. Quite a bit, honestly. I enjoy working with people, caring for people, and sharing educational experiences both academic and broader- life experiences. The moments that were most impacting in school were not the aced tests, the awesome papers, or the stellar projects. I was captivated by caring humans who just so happened to be teachers. Their identities went beyond "science teacher" or "French teacher" and transcended to "human being with a passion for who I am and who I will become". At an "urban ring" school with high levels of poverty and English Language Learners, my teachers were unrelenting in their purpose to educate and care. I know and see the difference that made for me, and I'd like to give back.
My education was filled with masters of the craft- human beings who cared deeply and worked passionately on the minds of students. Though one teacher always comes to mind first when asked, "Who was your favorite teacher?". She was not a science teacher at all. She taught French and I had the great joy of having her for my Junior and Senior years of high school. Madame Carlotti had it all. A brilliant personality characterized by high energy, enthusiasm, personable and approachableness, early-established ground rules and codes of conduct, and perfectly executed lessons that captured a wide variety of learning styles. We often found ourselves working together as a team toward a particular goal, often cross-disciplinary literacy skills. Madame Carlotti would sometimes have us work in groups to translate a passage in French and then teach our classmates what the passage said, other times we would be applying our language skills to applicable life skills that used technology (planning trips, current events), and other times she would lecture using her animated personality, fantastic pneumonic devices, and other forms of educational psychology. Madame Carlotti also took the time to get to know her students while making room for us to get to know her as well. Madame was not just a teacher. She was a human being. She was not just a French-speaking machine. She, too, experienced the highs and lows, triumphs and tribulations of life. This mutual understanding of the diversity of one another created a learning environment that was open and very real. I did not compartmentalize when I learned into my mental French folder. I integrated it into who I was and applied it to my own passions like art, art history, sociology, and science. We are, after all, highly integrated beings.
Beyond really loving science and beyond really wanting to share the super-fantastic things I know about science with others, I love people. Quite a bit, honestly. I enjoy working with people, caring for people, and sharing educational experiences both academic and broader- life experiences. The moments that were most impacting in school were not the aced tests, the awesome papers, or the stellar projects. I was captivated by caring humans who just so happened to be teachers. Their identities went beyond "science teacher" or "French teacher" and transcended to "human being with a passion for who I am and who I will become". At an "urban ring" school with high levels of poverty and English Language Learners, my teachers were unrelenting in their purpose to educate and care. I know and see the difference that made for me, and I'd like to give back.